


Santa's Stand-in

by whoneedsapublisher



Category: Love Live! School Idol Project
Genre: Christmas, F/F, More than ten years in the future, This started as NicoMaki and then HonoNozo kind of took over
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-25
Updated: 2018-12-25
Packaged: 2019-09-27 11:39:16
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 13,365
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17161319
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/whoneedsapublisher/pseuds/whoneedsapublisher
Summary: The great Nico Ni is immune to many things. Subtlety. Criticism. Low doorways. Unfortunately what she isn’t immune to, despite having a doctor for a wife, is illness. And when she falls ill just before Christmas and can’t play Santa for her family, she’s forced to reach out to Honoka for help.





	1. An Unexpected Call

It had been years since μ’s had broken up, and as would be expected, they’d drifted apart a little. They were all chasing their own dreams, and not all of those dreams could be found in Tokyo. But to Honoka’s continued delight, they’d still stayed in contact over the years. Even though it’d been quite a while since she’d seen some of them in person, she never went more than a couple of a weeks without talking to every member somehow, whether it was by email, or LINE, or a phone call.

Today, she was on one of those phone calls, although it hadn’t been a scheduled one. In fact, when her phone had rung, she’d thought it was one of her suppliers. So much so that she’d picked up and immediately started complaining about how late they were. Nico had cut her off, though, with a line Honoka had _never_ expected to hear.

“Honoka, I need your help.”

“My help?” Honoka asked, blinking in surprise. “Wait, Nico?”

“Yes. How could you confuse Nico’s wonderful voice for anyone else?” That _was_ a little unusual, truth be told, but Nico sounded a little off. Her voice was kind of scratchy. Maybe it was just a bad connection. “I’ll forgive you not knowing who I was before I spoke, although Nico is a little hurt that you don’t have a custom ringtone set for the world’s greatest idol…”

Honoka laughed awkwardly. “I… can’t really figure those out…” Nozomi had set one for Nico at one point, but Honoka had demanded she change it back before Nico heard, since she’d chosen a children’s song specifically to annoy Nico. Honestly, sometimes Honoka wasn’t sure if two of them were best friends or mortal enemies...

Nico snorted. “Figures. Anyway, back to the point: help me.”

“Help you with what, Nico?” Honoka asked curiously. To say that it was _unusual_ for Nico to ask for help was an understatement. A really huge understatement. Like a really _really_ huge one. In fact, Honoka would have previously thought that Nico would burn to death in front of Honoka rather than ask her to put her out. This must be really, truly, extremely serious. “Is there something wrong?”

“Damn right there is,” Nico said. Honoka heard a shuffling sound, and then the sound of coughing.

“Nico? Are you alright?”

“No,” Nico choked out, fighting off the end of her coughing fit. “I’ve caught some kind of stupid flu or something.”

“Oh no! Nico, are you dying?! Do you need help with your will?!”

“What?” Nico asked incredulously. “No! The doctor says I’ll be fine in a couple weeks at the most. I’m not _dying_.”

“Oh,” Honoka said, feeling a little stupid. Still, Nico asking her for help seemed like the kind of ultra severe turbo emergency situation that just made something like dying of a mysterious illness seem so _plausible_ … “Then what is it?”

“If you’d let me _finish a sentence_ I’d tell you!” Nico snapped, and then there was more rustling and Nico started coughing again. She… probably wasn’t supposed to get worked up when she was sick. Oops.

Honoka patiently waited for Nico to continue, fidgeting with the strings of her apron. Finally, Nico calmed herself down and returned to the phone.

“Alright, listen,” she said. “You know it’s almost Christmas, right?”

“Of course! That’s why I was so mad at my supplier!” Honoka said, getting steamed all over again. “This is a _super_ busy time of the year! We have a _ton_ of reservations for Christmas cakes, and there’s _always_ a bunch of people who will go around trying to buy them without reservations so we want to make a bunch of extra ones beyond the reserved ones, because you’re almost always going to run out anyway, and-”

To Nico’s credit, she sat listening to Honoka’s rant for a least a couple of minutes before she finally spoke up again.

“Not exactly the point, Honoka.”

“Oh. Right. Sorry Nico!” Honoka did tend to get carried away sometimes when she was talking about baking. But who could blame her? Baking was just so awesome! It was really weirder that the rest of the world _didn’t_ get excited about it. “So what about Christmas?”

“Look,” Nico said. “I always do the Santa thing with the kids, right? I get a few gifts, wrap them up nice, dress up like Santa and put them in the living room for when they wake up.”

Honoka couldn’t help herself. The mental image of Nico dressed as Santa, complete with a big white fake beard, was just too much, and she burst out laughing.

The silence from Nico’s end of the call was defending. “S-Sorry Nico,” Honoka mumbled. “I’m listening, I’m listening.”

“ _Anyway_ ,” Nico said icily. “With me bedridden, I can’t do it this year. So I need help.”

That… made sense, Honoka supposed. While she didn’t know that Nico was so devoted to making Christmas special for her kids, if she’d been doing it all their lives then of course she wouldn’t want to miss a year. But...

“Why can’t you just ask Maki to do it? Is she sick too?”

There was a long silence.

“Hello? Nico? Are you still there?”

“...Maki still doesn’t know it’s me.”

“What?”

“Maki doesn’t… know I’m the one who leaves the presents,” Nico muttered.

“What do you mean? Who does she think it is? Why are you keeping it secret?”

“She still thinks Santa is real, okay?!” Nico snapped. “I can’t ask her to do it because she thinks it’s Santa doing it.”

“Oh my god.” Honoka almost dropped the phone. “Nico.”

“Shut up!”

“Nico, she’s _thirty_!”

“She’s young at heart!”

“How have you not told her?”

“Excuse me?!” Nico said, affronted. “Who was it who stopped me telling her back in highschool, huh? Who was it that insisted it would be ‘a serious crime’ to tell her? Take some responsibility! Look, just... come over later this evening, okay? I’ll give you the key to the coin locker with the Santa costume and the gifts. And be careful with Maki’s gift, it’s fragile.”

“There’s a gift for M-”

Honoka was greeted with the sound of the call ending.

“-aki too?” she finished, to herself more than anything.

She heaved a sigh and put down the phone, just as she heard a key in the lock.

“Hello, sunshine,” Nozomi said, pushing open the door and setting her umbrella down in the stand. “That was a big sigh.”

“Nozomi!” Honoka said, perking up instantly and rushing over to her. Nozomi already had her arms held out wide, and Honoka dived into them, nuzzling into Nozomi and hugging her tightly. “Welcome home!”

Honoka didn’t care how many times she saw it. Even after ten years, Nozomi coming home to her and standing in her doorway with that warm smile on her face still made her heart swell to bursting. She hoped it did forever.

“Thank you,” Nozomi said, her voice gentle and affectionate as she patted Honoka’s head. If Honoka had a tail, she was sure it would be wagging like crazy.

“Is the rain bad out there?” Honoka asked, slightly muffled by Nozomi’s chest.

“It’s coming down pretty hard,” Nozomi said.

Honoka groaned, slumping down a little but still clinging tightly, giving the effect of her almost hanging off of Nozomi. “Great,” she grumbled.

“What’s wrong?” Nozomi asked.

“I need to go over to Nico and Maki’s place to get a key…” Honoka said. “But it’s gonna be wet and freezing cold.”

“A key? What for?” Nozomi asked.

“Nico asked for my help! She’s sick, but Maki still believes in Santa, so I have to dress up and I need the key for the locker.”

Nozomi knitted her brow in confusion. “...Explain it to me from the beginning.”

* * *

“...and that’s when she hung up on me,” Honoka finished.

Nozomi had taken off her wet coat and made tea, and Honoka had got out a couple of tea cookies that she’d baked. It wasn’t something they did every night, but on nights where it was particularly cold or wet outside, sometimes Nozomi would lie on the couch, and Honoka would cuddle up to her, and they’d stay like that, drinking tea and watching the world outside through the window.

This time, it came with the added entertainment of Honoka relaying the story of her bizarre phone call.

“Oh dear,” Nozomi said, holding back a laugh. “Maki still believes in Santa at her age?”

“I know!” Honoka said. “It’s kinda super cute, right?”

“A little,” Nozomi admitted. “Personally, I think it’s more cute that Nico has kept up the charade for this long. Going out and buying gifts, getting a Santa costume, all just to let her wife believe in magic for a little while longer.”

“Oh man, you’re right! That’s adorable!”

“Don’t tell Nico, though,” Nozomi said, smiling. “You know how she is.”

“Aww, but it’s a good thing, isn’t it?” Honoka said. “It’s nice of her to do all that for Maki.”

“True, but Nico probably doesn’t like to be thought of as that kind of nice. She does try to be selfish, despite herself.”

Honoka heaved a sigh. “Nico’s so weird,” she grumbled.

“Maybe,” Nozomi said. “But μ’s wouldn’t have been the same without her.” She leaned down and kissed Honoka’s forehead. “Of course, it wouldn’t have been anything at all without you.”

“It wouldn’t exist without you, either,” Honoka said.

“I didn’t do much more than help bring you and the others together. You’re the one who started it, and you were our leader.”

Honoka pouted, looking sternly up at Nozomi. “That’s not fair. You always act like what you did wasn’t important.” Reaching up, she cupped Nozomi’s face in her hands. “You’re one of the reasons why μ’s exists, Nozomi. And you’re _definitely_ the reason it’s named that.”

Nozomi tried to protest, but Honoka squished her cheeks, muffling her words. “Nu-uh! No buts! You were important, Nozomi! And you’re still important.”

“Fine, fine,” Nozomi said. Honoka wasn’t sure if she really believed it. “Shouldn’t you get going?”

Honoka let out a groan, flopping back down onto Nozomi’s lap. “But it’s wettttt,” she whined. “And it’s nice and warm and comfortable here.”

“Come on, Nico needs your help, doesn’t she?”

Honoka sighed heavily. “Alright, alright,” she grumbled, forcing herself to get up and start bustling around, finding her shoes and her coat.

“I promise I’ll have a cup of tea and a hot bath waiting for you when you get home, okay?” Nozomi said, and Honoka perked up.

“...Will you join me in the bath?” she asked hopefully.

“Of course,” Nozomi said, smiling.

Suddenly, going out in the rain didn’t seem so bad.

* * *

Going out in the rain was, actually, still bad.

Honoka cowered under her umbrella as she made her way through the empty streets, but it wasn’t enough. The rain was pouring down, and while the wind wasn’t exactly gale force, it was still enough to blow the rain into her, right under her umbrella. By the time she got to Nico and Maki’s home, she was freezing cold and uncomfortably wet.

Taking shelter in the alcove by their door, Honoka pressed the buzzer and shivered. After a few moments and some shuffling from inside the house, Maki opened the door.

“Oh! Honoka!” she said, blinking in surprise. “What are you doing here?”

“Hi Maki!” Honoka said, smiling despite her miserable state. It had been a while since she’d seen Maki in person. She was always so busy with work. Honoka supposed that was just how it was for doctors, but still, it was a little sad not to see her. “I came over because Nico asked me for help with S-”

Eep! She’d almost spilled the beans! Slapping her hands over her mouth, Honoka tried to gather herself while Maki gave her an odd look.

“Help Nico with something?” she asked.

“Y-Yeah, but you know, she didn’t really… want me to say anything. Um, does she have a key for me?”

“A key?” Maki asked, mystified. “I’ll.. ask her. Do you want to come inside?”

Honoka almost said yes, tempted by the chance to come inside to dry off and chat with Maki. But the rain didn’t look like it was going to let up, and she wanted to get back home to her nice warm, relaxing, sexy-wife-filled bath as soon as she possibly could.

 _Sorry Maki,_ Honoka thought to herself. Unfortunately, bathing with Nozomi beat catching up with Maki any day of the week.

“No, that’s okay!” she said out loud. “I just came to pick up the key.”

Maki gave her another odd look and then wandered further back into the house, calling out for Nico. Honoka couldn’t really make out their conversation, but it sounded like there was bickering, followed by Nico going into another coughing fit. Honoka couldn’t help but feel a little guilty. Maybe they wouldn’t be fighting if she hadn’t let slip that she was doing a favour for Nico…

Well, actually, they probably would anyway. They fought a lot. But they always seemed happy together. Maybe they just liked fighting…?

Soon enough Maki came back twirling something around her finger. “Here you go,” she said, dropping the key into Honoka’s hand with a frown on her face. “What’s it for?”

“A co-” Honoka cut herself off and frowned. “A-Ask Nico!” she said, cowardly. “Okay, gotta go, bye! Hope to see you soon, Maki, say hi to the kids for me!”

And with that, she turned and fled back into the rain, the key clenched tightly in her fist, stuffed deep into her pocket as she hurried home through the ever heavier downpour.

* * *

By the time she reached home, she’d almost given up on using her umbrella. The rain was coming down so heavily now that she could barely hear anything over the noise, and despite her best efforts at angling the umbrella to match the wind, she was soaked to the bone. Shivering, she turned her key in the house’s lock and hurried inside, slamming  the door behind her before the rain could flood the entryway.

Letting out a little whimper of discontent, Honoka peeled off her soaked jacket and put aside her dripping umbrella.

“Welcome home, honey!” Nozomi’s voice drifted out from the bathroom, and Honoka perked up. Kicking off her shoes, she padded over to the door of the bathroom and pushed it open.

As soon as she opened the door, the hot air inside rushed out, hitting her like a warm cushion. There was a bath already ready, with steam coming off it as well as the cups of tea sitting on a tray nearby. But more importantly, Nozomi was lying in the bath, smiling up at Honoka.

“Going to join me?” she asked innocently.

Honoka was sure she must have broken some kind of speed record, and she was a little worried that she’d popped one of the buttons off her shirt, but either way she quickly stripped off her clothes and slid into the bath.

As she sunk into the water, she let out a pleased sigh, the warmth spreading through her body and chasing away the chill that pervaded her body. Closing her eyes, she leaned back into Nozomi and felt the tension drain out of her muscles.

Nozomi draped her arms over her and kissed her forehead softly.

For a while, they just stayed like that, Honoka recovering from her miserable walk and for once happy to be silent. Still, that couldn’t last forever. Honoka was naturally energetic, and a tiny bit restless. Eventually, she recovered enough to open her eyes and blink up at Nozomi.

“Hiya,” she said.

“Hello yourself,” Nozomi said, amused. “Did you get the key?”

“Yep!” Honoka said. She frowned a little. “...I accidentally told Maki that Nico asked me to help her, though. I couldn’t hear what they were saying, but I think they got in a fight over it…”

Nozomi chuckled. “I’m glad to hear they can still argue over nothing,” she said. “I was worried that since couples get less passionate as the years go on, they might-”

“What do you mean, couples get less passionate?” Honoka asked. Suddenly, the icy cold was back, piercing her heart. Did that mean…? “Do you… not love me as much as you used to?”

“Oh Honoka, no, of course not!” Nozomi said, hugging Honoka tightly. It was an odd sensation. Usually a hug from Nozomi felt so secure and fluffy, but with the soap it felt slippery and almost rubbery. “If anything, I love you _more_. That’s not what I meant by less passionate. And honestly, couples calming down is a good thing. We couldn’t have done something like this when we were first dating.”

“Why not?” Honoka asked.

“Honoka, sweetie, ten years ago if you’d come home to find me already naked, we would have just jumped right to sex.” Nozomi smiled mischievously. “Remember the time you came home when I was changing?

Honoka giggled. “How could I forget? I had to open so late the next day, all my employees were worried I’d gotten sick.”

“But if we’d jumped right to sex, we couldn’t enjoy a bath together like this,” Nozomi said, nuzzling her face into Honoka’s hair. “I’m glad we’re at the point where we can do these things together.”

“Maybe…” Honoka said, frowning and sinking down a little into the water. “I’m still passionate about you, though…” she mumbled sadly.

Nozomi sighed. “I’m sorry, honey,” she said. “Of course I’m still passionate about you. That wasn’t what I meant. Maybe a better way of saying it would be couples get less… volatile.”

“Volatile?”

“Early on in a relationship, you’re filled with nervous excitement. You can’t believe it’s real, that you’re actually with someone, and the novelty of it all is overwhelming. Being able to hold them whenever you want, being able to kiss them whenever you want… it’s all so new and exciting that you can’t help but obsess over it, and keep testing it.”

That certainly rang true to Honoka. When her and Nozomi first started going out, Honoka had thought for sure that it was a dream, or she’d misunderstood something, and later she’d realized that Nozomi was even more nervous than her. While Honoka would constantly demand attention and affection just to reassure herself that it was there, Nozomi seemed almost afraid to ask for anything, terrified of breaking the spell.

“And then when sex enters the picture, that becomes the new novelty.”

That was _definitely_ true. If anything, Nozomi’s earlier comment was too generous about Honoka’s self control- ten years ago, she probably would have pounced on Nozomi as soon as she even _suggested_ taking a bath together. The mental image alone would have been enough to get her going, and poor Nico would be left waiting all evening.

“But as the relationship matures,” Nozomi continued. “You start to realize that it _is_ real, and your partner isn’t going anywhere.”

Honoka loved to listen to Nozomi explain things. When she was giving a speech like this, she lapsed into an even and soothing tone and spoke with a gentle confidence that always made Honoka feel… safe. Like Nozomi knew everything in the world, and had everything under control, and all Honoka had to do was sit there and listen and everything would be okay.

“When you take someone who’s used to starving and present them with as much food as they want, at first they’ll gorge themselves,” Nozomi said. “But once they realize that it’s not going to be suddenly pulled away from them, that they don’t have to eat as much as possible while they still can, they’ll stop overeating and gradually start to eat normal portions again. It doesn’t mean that they’ve stopped liking food, it just means that they’ve realized that it’s not just going to disappear at any moment.”

“And that’s what relationships are like…?” Honoka hazarded.

“Right,” Nozomi said. “The nervous excitement you start off with starts to be replaced with contentment and security. You don’t rush to have sex at every opportunity, because you start to truly believe that there will be more chances in the future. You don’t cling to your partner every second of the day, because you trust that they’ll still be there when you come back.”

“I do trust you, Nozomi,” Honoka said, scooting herself back up and leaning back into Nozomi, looking up at her affectionately. She really did trust Nozomi. More than anyone. She couldn’t even imagine Nozomi ever wanting anything but good things for her. For them.

“Thank you, Honoka,” Nozomi said. “I trust you too.”

She squeezed Honoka tightly. This had the side effect of squishing her boobs right into Honoka’s back, and Honoka had to admit that the feeling _that_ gave her was a lot more passionate than “contentment and security.”

Still, she didn’t turn around pounce immediately, so maybe that proved Nozomi’s point. Instead, she contented herself with laying her hands over Nozomi’s.

“Nico and Maki, though,” Nozomi said, returning to the original point that Honoka only vaguely remembered. “Their relationship has always seemed to run purely on nervous energy. ‘Does she hate me?’ ‘Why don’t I hate her?’ ‘Why is she like that?’ ‘I don’t understand her!’”

Honoka giggled at Nozomi’s impressions of Nico and Maki.

“So I was a little concerned that they might drift apart a little, once they started being more comfortable around each other, and let down their walls, and weren’t such a mystery to each other anymore,” Nozomi said. “But if they can still manage friendly bickering after all these years, perhaps I’ve been worrying over nothing.”

“You do worry about Nico a lot,” Honoka said, tilting her head a little.

“Well,” Nozomi said, looking a little embarrassed all of a sudden. “I just… I feel a little guilty…”

Honoka frowned. “You’re not still worrying about what happened in the first two years of highschool, are you…?”

Nozomi flushed. “I don’t… regularly think about it…” she said evasively, and Honoka let out a big sigh dropped her hands into the water, kicking up a small splash.

“Nozomiiiiii,” she said, exasperatedly. “Nico isn’t mad at you! It’s been _years_ , and besides, look at her now! She’s perfectly fine not being an idol!”

Nozomi shook her head. “She’s fine being an _ex-idol_ ,” she said. “You’ve seen how excited she gets when she has to chance to teach new idols, or when someone recognizes her and asks for an autograph. She’d be miserable if she’d never made it.”

“Well then,” Honoka said, reaching up and turning a little to press her hands against Nozomi’s cheeks. “It’s a good thing you helped create μ’s, so that she _did_ make it.”

Nozomi sighed and smiled weakly. “I guess so,” she said.

“Nozomi,” Honoka said, narrowing her eyes.

“Fine, fine,” Nozomi said, her smile looking at little more genuine. “You’re right, Honoka.”

“You better believe it!” Honoka said, triumphantly, and leaned up to steal a quick kiss, but as Nozomi leaned down to meet her, it ended up being more slow and lingering than she’d planned.

Hrm. Honoka was feeling more passionate and less contented by the second. Well, whatever. She’d waited long enough to prove Nozomi’s point, right? She still did believe that Nozomi would be there for her later, and that there’d be more chances to have sex in the future.

She just also wanted to take this one.

 


	2. Missed Connections

Nico didn’t like relying on people.

It wasn’t because she didn’t have faith in the people she was relying on. As much as she didn’t really want to admit it, she did trust the other members of μ’s. Even Honoka. But still, she _hated_ her fate being out of her hands. She was Nico Nishikino, god damnit. She was supposed to solve her own damn problems, not sit on her ass hoping someone else did.

But what choice did she have? She’d gotten sick, and when she was married to a _doctor_ , it wasn’t like she could get away with claiming to be fine or sneaking out of the house to retrieve gifts. Maki had done everything short of chaining her to the bed, and while she wasn’t watching her like a hawk every second of the day, she definitely was keeping a close eye on her. Nico was pretty sure that she’d talked the kids into watching her as well. If she tried to sneak out when Maki was at work or something, Jiro or Sakura would probably call the hospital to tattle.

So she was stuck in bed, and her gifts and her costume were stuck in a key locker, and the days were quickly running out until Christmas.

Honoka… may not have been the best choice of people to ask for help. It had seemed like a good idea at the time. First, she was likely to agree, since she’d been one of the ones yelling at Nico not to tell Maki about Santa, and she was the kind to help anyway. Second, however silly she was some times, she really did get things done. She was the one who’d founded μ’s, after all. Even if Nico was _kind of_ the real leader, honestly, since she was the most talented and experienced idol, Honoka did a good job of holding things together. And third, asking Honoka meant _basically_ asking Nozomi, without Nico having to actually deal with Nozomi’s stupid smug reaction. After all, Honoka was going to go to Nozomi for help right away. Probably within minutes of Nico calling.

But what she hadn’t considered was that Honoka was about as subtle as a brick. Of course she’d just come over and _ring the doorbell_ instead of calling Nico. Of course Maki would answer the door, and of course Honoka would end up blabbing too much to her.

“What’s this about a key?” Maki asked, cocking her hip and putting her hand on it as she frowned down at Nico.

“Nothing important,” Nico said casually, shrugging. “Just an errand I asked Honoka to run.”

“Why is _Honoka_ doing it?” Maki asked, narrowing her eyes. “I said to ask me if you needed anything, didn’t I?”

Shit. “So what?” Nico said, crossing her arms. “It was something I wanted Honoka to do, who cares?”

“I care!” Maki snapped. “You never let me do anything for you, and now that you’re sick and _can’t_ do everything for yourself, you’re asking someone _else_?!”

“Oh sure, just make me getting sick all about _you_!” Nico snapped back. “Not like I’m the one who’s-” before she could continue that thought, Nico broke down into a fit of coughing. While she _hated_ that she could barely even raise her voice without her body breaking down, she had to admit that it was a convenient way to get out of this argument.

Immediately, Maki was by her side, one hand on her back as the other one held Nico’s hand, gently rubbing slow circles on her back as Nico’s coughing wound down and she started to catch her breath again.

“...Thanks,” Nico mumbled. “Can you… just give her this?” Nico held out the key, and Maki gave it a suspicious look, crossing her arms.  “...Please?” Nico added reluctantly.

That seemed to do the trick. Maki sighed and uncrossed her arms, snatching the key away.

“Fine,” she said, turning to leave. Just before she walked through the doorway, she turned to glare at Nico again. “But we’re going to talk about this later,” she added, and then pulled the door shut.

Nico frowned. That… could be a problem. Her original plan had been to just give the key to Honoka without Maki knowing, and if Maki found out that Honoka was there she’d claim that she had just been talking to Honoka about details for their Christmas cake. But clearly she didn’t need to give Honoka a _key_ to bake them a cake… now she was going to have to come up with a new excuse. And fast.

* * *

As Honoka and Nozomi left the bathroom together, Honoka’s phone rang.

“You should pick that up,” Nozomi murmured breathlessly. It wasn’t very convincing. Even as she said it, her embrace didn’t loosen in the slightest.

“No way,” Honoka said, as the ringtone continued to play from inside her coat, which was hanging limply on a peg by the door.  “We’re busy.”

“What if it’s important?” Nozomi asked, as she allowed Honoka to shepard her towards the bedroom.

“Nothing’s more important than this,” Honoka said, leaning in to capture Nozomi’s lips. Nozomi made a little noise of approval as she drew closer, pressing her mouth against Honoka in the slightly hesitant but undeniably needy way she did when she wanted Honoka to kiss her harder. It never failed to drive Honoka wild. Nozomi was usually so capable and composed, a mischievous twinkle in her eye and a comeback always at the ready. Her timidly asking Honoka for more was so… so _different_ that it was intoxicating. Honoka, for her own part, eagerly fulfilled her request, her tongue diving into Nozomi’s mouth as she pressed her body close to her.

By the time they broke apart for air, the phone had long since stopped ringing, and they were standing in front of the bed.

“You should call them back, you know,” Nozomi said, her face flushed. “But… I suppose it can wait a little while.”

She pulled away from Honoka to lay back on the bed, letting her towel fall open as she did. Her still wet hair splayed out on the pillow like a halo. The sight stopped Honoka’s heart for a moment. At this point, she knew every nook and cranny of Nozomi’s body. She could practically draw every tiny scar and mark on her skin from memory. But nonetheless, just how beautiful she was still caught Honoka off guard sometimes.

“You’re so pretty, Nozomi,” she managed, failing to capture the depth of her feelings completely. It was good thing she hadn’t been in charge of lyrics for μ’s, if she was being presented with such amazing inspiration and that was the best she could come up with.

Still, Nozomi seemed to understand what she meant, as a warm smile crossed her face, stealing the breath from Honoka’s lungs as she made the transition from “beautiful” to “angelic”.  “You’re beautiful as well, Honoka,” she said. She sounded sincere, too. That was something Honoka had taken a while to really believe. She was sure that Nozomi was out of her league, even as they were exchanging vows. But now she really did know that Nozomi honestly found her beautiful, as strange as that seemed. Even if she was a little less youthful than she had been.

As Honoka stared at Nozomi, lost in her own thoughts, Nozomi reached up and cupped Honoka’s cheek.

“Come on, don’t just look,” Nozomi murmured. “Touch me already…”

Honoka leaned down and drew a finger down Nozomi’s chin, smiling as Nozomi shivered in response and tilted her head to expose her neck to Honoka. It was the part of sex that had surprised Honoka the most at first- she’d always figured that Nozomi was a “take the lead” kinda gal, but it turned out that Honoka tended to be the one in control. If Nozomi’s slight neediness when they were kissing was like a tigress lowering her head to be petted, this was like a tigress rolling around on her back like a kitten, begging for a tummy rub.

And as always, Honoka wanted nothing more than to give Nozomi exactly what she wanted. Dipping her head down, she kissed Nozomi’s neck, softly at first, and then more forcefully, sucking the skin into her mouth and nipping at the sensitive skin.

Nozomi used to worry about Honoka leaving marks, afraid of what people at work might say, but they’d eventually come to a compromise. It was fine in winter- no one at work would be suspicious if she wore a high-necked sweater or a scarf. But in summer, Honoka wasn’t allowed to leave marks anywhere that wouldn’t be covered by a bikini. Of course, the same went for Nozomi, but Honoka was the one it really affected. She loved leaving hickeys on Nozomi. She wasn’t really the jealous type, but she still felt a streak of possessiveness, the overwhelming desire to show that Nozomi was hers, even if no one else saw it. Looking down at Nozomi after they’d made love and seeing her covered in little signs that Honoka had been there gave her a strange feeling of satisfaction. So in summer, she just made sure to wear lipstick, and contented herself with the lip prints decorating Nozomi’s body. But in winter, she could go wild, and she fully intended to.

As she finished with Nozomi’s collarbone and made her way down her ample chest, Honoka could faintly hear the sound of her phone in the other room, but she was well past caring.

* * *

“Damnit, Honoka, pick up your phone,” Nico grumbled, setting aside her phone and flopping back onto her pillows. She didn’t get that much time without Maki hovering around her, and she needed to talk to Honoka before Maki started demanding answers. Luckily, Maki was busy with the kids for the moment, but that wouldn’t last forever. Honoka should have had _plenty_ of time to get home by now, but Nico had called three times and Honoka still hadn’t picked up.

 _Well, Nico, looks like you’re on your own,_ she thought grimly. _How are you gonna talk your way out of this one?_

Or, more relevantly, how was she going to do it without ruining Christmas?

Nico sighed and closed her eyes as her head throbbed. This wasn’t how things were supposed to go. Bad enough that she was sick. Bad enough that she was sick at Christmas. But now she was having to scheme with all her might when she was Nico Nico Nowhere Near her best? It sucked.

A quiet tap on her door served as the grim reminder that she was out of time.

“Nico?” Maki called softly.

Nico could pretend to be asleep. That would buy her at least a little time, probably. But what was the point? Her head hurt and her mind was getting fuzzy. She wasn’t going to think of anything.

“Come in,” she called out, and Maki opened the door, bringing a tray with some tea on it in as she closed the door behind her with a foot.

There was a short silence between them as Maki set the cup down by Nico’s bedside and then sat on a chair next to the bed with her hands in her lap.

Finally, Maki spoke up.

“I’m sorry, Nico,” she said.

Nico hadn’t been expecting _that_. Blearily, she glanced over at Maki, who gave her a pitying look that said a lot about how bad Nico must be looking.

“I know you didn’t mean…” Maki started, then paused before starting again. “I just want to help you, Nico. It’s frustrating when I can’t make you feel better.”

“...It’s okay,” Nico said. Her voice sounded a little off. Thick. It was hardly the clear, songbird-like melodious tone that Japan had fallen in love with. That was irritating. “I’m sorry too.”

She reached out and took Maki’s hand. “...You are helping me, okay? I appreciate you taking care of the kids and cooking and everything.”

Maki scoffed. “Oh come on, that’s the bare minimum,” she said.

“It’s what I need help with,” Nico said.

Maki frowned. “Come on,” she said, leaning down. “Isn’t there anything else? Anything you want me to get you? Anything in particular you want to eat?”

Nico grimaced. “Maki, I can barely taste anything,” she grumbled. “Look, you’re helping me, okay? Thank you.”

Maki sighed. “If you say so.”

Nico closed her eyes. Keeping them open was starting to get too hard. “Maki,” she said. “Can I ask you to do something else?”

“Of course!” Maki said. Nico felt her grip her hand more tightly and shift in her chair. Doubtless eager to hear what Nico was going to ask. Nico almost felt guilty that it was a set up.

“Can you wait for me to explain what I needed Honoka to do for me?”

There was a silence in response.

“I promise I’ll tell you, but just… not yet. I’m tired.”

“Fine,” Maki said, sighing. Nico could tell what she was thinking. ‘If Nico was telling the truth, why would it take more than a second to tell me’. So now she needed to come up with an excuse, _and_ make sure it was one that was complicated to explain so that she had a plausible reason not to do it now. She couldn’t do that now, though. Even thinking as far as that was a strain. Her mind felt so… fluffy. It was hard to put things together any more. So she gave up.

“...Can you sing for me?” Nico murmured. Her voice was quiet now, and slurred a little. It was hard to stay awake, with her head full of fuzz and the bed so warm. Maki’s hand was warm too. And it felt soft, even though Nico knew it was covered in calluses from work. Maybe it just felt soft because it was Maki’s hand.

“Of course,” Maki murmured.

Her voice wasn’t the same as it was in highschool. How could it be? But it was still beautiful. As Nico lay there listening to Maki softly singing, just like she’d heard her sing for their children, her worries melted away for just a little while, and she drifted off into a peaceful sleep.

* * *

“It’s… probably too late to call back now, isn’t it?” Honoka asked, looking guiltily at her phone screen. Staring back at her was three missed call alerts, all from Nico.

Nozomi glanced over at the bedside alarm clock. She had one separate from her phone, unlike Honoka. It was a cutesy design, but it was oddly old-fashioned. Nozomi claimed that it was comforting, compared to the impersonal noise of a phone alarm. Honoka didn’t really get it, honestly. Couldn’t you just set your phone alarm to be whatever sound you wanted?

“Mmm… probably. Who was it?”

“Nico,” Honoka said.

“I doubt she’d appreciate you waking her up,” Nozomi said. “She is sick, after all.”

Honoka sighed deeply and flopped back onto the bed. “Awwwww man, I screwed up…” she whined. “I totally lost track of time…”

“Well, I can’t say that I noticed how late it was getting either,” Nozomi said. “Besides,” she added, turning on to her side to face Honoka. “I’m your wife, I’m allowed to monopolize you for a little while.”

“I guess…” Honoka said reluctantly. “But what if it was important? What if she forgot something about the locker?”

“Well, we’re not going to do anything about it tonight anyway, are we?” Nozomi asked. “I’m sure whatever Nico had to say can wait until tomorrow.”

“We?” Honoka asked curiously, turning a little to look at Nozomi. She was still naked, of course, but, well… maybe Nozomi was on to something about some level of passion being replaced with something else as relationships went on. Honoka wasn’t really filled with lust when she looked over at Nozomi lounging on their shared bed without any clothing on. Mostly, she just felt… safe. Safe, and loved, and really happy, and really _really_ in the mood to cuddle. So before Nozomi could even answer her question, she wiggled over closer to Nozomi and wrapped her arms around her, pulling their bodies together and resting her chin on Nozomi’s chest as she looked up at her.

Nozomi flashed her a smile, and Honoka wasn’t sure if it was because of her position or her question. “Why yes, of course,” Nozomi said, patting Honoka on the head. “I wasn’t planning to make you do this all on your own.”

“Thanks,” Honoka said, smiling. Nozomi always did have her back. “Hopefully it shouldn’t be a big deal.”

“It might even be fun,” Nozomi said. “But we’ll worry about it tomorrow.”

She reached over and flicked off the light, throwing the room into darkness. “ _You_ need to be up early to start baking tomorrow, and I need my beauty sleep.”

“You’re already beautiful enough,” Honoka said, dutifully.

“That just means it’s working,” Nozomi replied, and then they both laughed. It was an exchange they’d had a million times. Just a little back and forth that they repeated again and again, like running their fingers over a carving in a tree. But it had a little extra meaning tonight, at least to Honoka. She’d had a reminder that Nozomi really was beautiful enough already. And if that was because of her extra sleep, well, Honoka didn’t want to keep her awake a moment longer.

 


	3. Preparation

It was already the next afternoon before Nico managed to get into contact with Honoka again.

It wasn’t like it was _easy_. Honoka had work, obviously, and Nico wasn’t so boorish as to bother her when she was trying to bake. And that was only a tiny bit because she suspected that Honoka would just hang up. It was mostly based on courtesy, obviously. Nico wouldn’t do that even if it _wasn’t_ a wasted effort.

And it wasn’t like she could just call her whenever. Thankfully, Maki was at work today, but that didn’t mean Nico wasn’t being supervised. Since Nico was ill, Maki had arranged for “Aunt Umi” to take care of the children, and “Aunt Umi” had also been instructed by a certain meddlesome redhead to keep an eye on Nico. A job which she was performing with contemptible gusto. Someone seriously needed to teach that woman how to slack off a little sometimes.

So with Umi poking her nose into the room to glower at Nico and ensure she wasn’t doing anything too strenuous like “sitting up slightly” or “moving at all”, Nico had to pick her moments carefully.

But Umi’s main job was still taking care of the kids, so when she was sufficiently occupied with that, Nico had dug her phone out from under a pillow and called Honoka’s number again.

“Hello?”

“Damnit, Honoka, why did you have to mention the _key_?” Nico growled. Okay, so it wasn’t the best opener to a conversation, but she’d been stewing over it all day. If she didn’t get it out she was going to burst. “I was just going to tell her the thing you were helping with was that Christmas cake we ordered, but now I have to come up with something to do with a key…”

“Sorry Nico, I forgot that all this was a secret from Maki…” Honoka said. Nico could hear her wilting, doubtless hanging her head and frowning. Bah. Stupid kicked puppy defense. It never worked for _Nico_ , even though she was clearly adorable, why did it have to work for Honoka?!

“Whatever. Why didn’t you pick up your phone yesterday, anyway?” Nico asked, sighing and slumping back. She’d sat up a little bit when she was snapping at Honoka, and even though she’d barely even straightened up, her body was already crying out against it. Stupid illness. Stupid aching muscles.

“Oh,” Honoka said, awkwardly. “I was. Um. Doing things.”

Nico pursed her lips. She could practically _see_ Nozomi giving her a smug look from over Honoka’s shoulder and mouthing “I’m things.”

“Hmph. Must be nice not to have kids,” she grumbled. “I suppose I can understand. Your libido is more important than your _dear, sickly_ friend Nico.”

“It’s not like that, Nico,” Honoka protested. “I didn’t know you were calling! W-Well, I mean, I heard the phone, but I didn’t know it was you! I told you, I don’t have a custom ringtone, and-”

Normally, Nico would let Honoka squirm for a little while, and then eventually allow herself to be convinced not to be mad any more. Unfortunately, Umi wasn’t going to busy forever.

“It’s fine,” she said. “Forget it. Listen, I came up with an excuse for Maki. Pay attention, okay? If you get any of the details wrong she’s gonna be suspicious, and Nico Ni doesn’t need her Christmas ruined by her wife thinking she’s cheating on her or something over a Santa costume.”

“Okay,” Honoka said. “Hold on, I’ll put you on speaker so Nozomi can hear too, so she can remind me.”

Nico made a face. It was unfortunate that Honoka couldn’t see it. It was a pretty good summary of her feelings. “She’s not allowed to make any snarky comments,” she said.

Nico heard rustling, and took a deep breath. “Alright,” she said. “Here’s the excuse. You’re getting Maki’s present for me. I ran into her when shopping and so I had to hide it in a  coin locker not to ruin the surprise, but I got sick and couldn’t pick it back up.”

“Wait, you’re revealing that her gift isn’t from Santa? I thought-”

“She still believes in Santa, she doesn’t still think she _gets_ _presents_ from him! Santa gives presents to _children_.”

“You got her presents from ‘Santa’ until her 20th birthday, didn’t you, Nico?” Nozomi’s voice chimed in and Nico narrowed her eyes.

“I _said_ no snarky comments, Nozomi!”

“I think it’s sweet, Nico,” Nozomi said.

“Shut up!” Nico snapped, and then let out a cough, clutching her chest. Ahh, stupid, she shouldn’t raise her voice. Umi might hear, too.

“Anyway!” she continued, catching her breath. “That’s the excuse! And I didn’t want to tell her about it earlier because I was afraid that she’d remember when she ran into me and might be able to figure out what I’d gotten based on where in town I was shopping.”

“Flawless logic as always, Nico.”

“Nozomi, I swear to god…”

“Wait, but Nico, you said her gift _was_ in the locker.”

“Yeah, but that’s just because I didn’t want her to find it by snooping around in the closet. She’ll get mad if I just tell her _that_.”

“Oh my, Nico, are you actually trying to _avoid_ a fight with Maki? You really are sick.”

“I’m hanging up.”

* * *

As the line went dead, Honoka gave Nozomi a reproachful look, who looked back at her innocently as if to say “who, me?”

“Nozomi…” she said. “Do you have to upset Nico so much when she’s sick?”

Nozomi looked a little embarrassed for a moment. “It’s what she expects from me. I don’t want to let her down.”

“I don’t think she’ll be mad if you’re a little nicer to her,” Honoka said. “You don’t need to worry about people’s expectations so much.”

Nozomi made a humming noise. It was something she did when she was pretending to agree with something, but not actually agreeing with it.

“Anyway, we should go check out the locker,” she said, changing the subject so blatantly that Honoka snorted in amusement. “If Nico’s costume doesn’t fit you we’re going to have to find one that does, so we can’t leave it to the last minute.”

“Oh, that’s true,” Honoka said. Honestly, she was a little surprised that Nozomi had a real point and wasn’t just trying to get out of the conversation.

“I’ll get our coats,” Nozomi said. “You grab the key and a bag for everything.”

* * *

It turned out that bringing a bag was a smart idea. As Nozomi stood by and watched, Honoka fumbled to open the keylocker, her gloves giving her enough difficulty that she almost would have taken them off it she couldn’t see a thin layer of frost on the handle. Eventually, though, she got the key to turn and pulled it open. The gifts were stacked with surprising care, but they were just stacked boxes. Even the santa costume was in a box. Carrying all of them would have been a little unwieldy, but thankfully the gifts all fit into the bag, with Honoka carrying the costume.

It was obvious that the costume wasn’t going to fit Honoka even before she put it on.

“Jeez,” Honoka grumbled, as she held up the shirt. “How does Nico manage to stay so tiny when her cooking is so good?”

“Well, part of it is her height…” Nozomi said. Honoka imagined that Nico would be less than thrilled to hear that justification. She was overcome with the sudden desire to defend her.

“It’s not _just_ the height,” she insisted. “She’s thin, too.”

“That’s true,” Nozomi said. “She trained a long time as an idol, and carefully controlled her diet, too. I imagine she’s very good at cooking healthy meals, and counting calories. Perhaps keeping it up is a matter of pride for her.”

That was usually a safe bet with Nico. Still, pride or not, Honoka was impressed at her self control. Nico might still be tiny, but Honoka had put on plenty of weight since she’d been an idol. Working in a bakery, how could she _not_? She was making delicious bread all the time! Of course she was going to eat some of it!

Still, it meant that there was no way that this Santa suit was going to fit her.

“Where do you even get Santa costumes?” Honoka asked, giving up and throwing the costume back into the box. “Should we ask Nico?”

“No, we can just look online,” Nozomi said. “I’m sure there’s a costume shop somewhere around here.”

* * *

As it happened, there was. Fortunately, it was still open. Unfortunately, though, it was about as far away as it could be while still being in walking distance. If it had been further away, they could have taken a train, but as it was, they were was stuck walking through the chill air, their coats taking the edge off of the biting cold, but sadly incapable of much else. Actually warm was, sadly, off the table. Nozomi felt herself wishing that she’d worn more layers of clothing.

“At this rate, _I’m_ going to get sick,” Honoka grumbled, pulling her scarf closer against her face. “Then what’s Nico gonna do? Jeez, she’ll be really doomed then.”

“I’m sure you’ll be fine,” Nozomi said. “I’ll make us some tea when we get home.”

“Can we take a bath together again?” Honoka asked hopefully, clasping her hands in front of her. She looked so eager that Nozomi couldn’t help but smile.

“If you want,” she said. Unfortunately, this time she wouldn’t be able to time when Honoka was likely to get home and have the bath already waiting and warmed up, but now that she was the was the one out in the cold, the notion did hold an undeniably strong appeal. “But first, we need to get the costume.”

“Okay! One santa costume coming up!” Honoka said confidently, striding forwards towards the shop, the cold forgotten as she stormed ahead. Nozomi trailed behind, unable to chase the smile from her lips. Honoka was too cute, sometimes. It was amazing how much she’d kept her youthful spirit, even as she’d matured.

When they arrived at the shop, Nozomi found herself a little surprised by how understated the shop was. She’d expected a giant sign, with a garish, colourful display. Maybe some popular anime costumes in the window or something. But it was just a small white sign with the name of the shop in a conservative font, with some drab looking dresses and suits. If she’d caught it out of the corner of her eye, she would have assumed it was just a dingy clothing shop, not a costume store.

When Honoka pushed open the door and wandered inside, a bell rang. The woman at the counter looked up from her magazine at them, a cigarette hanging limply from her mouth.

“Welcome,” she said. “Santa costume, right?”

Honoka gasped. “How did you know?” she asked, excitement obvious on her face as she hurried inside. Nozomi followed after her, closing the door and shutting out the cold air. The store wasn’t exactly toasty, but it was at least there was a small heater in the corner. The woman at the counter was still wearing a sweater, though, so it couldn’t be working that well.

“It’s December 23rd…” the woman said, raising an eyebrow. She had blond hair, and Nozomi thought she could see a tattoo peeking out from under her sleeve. “You don’t exactly have to be psychic.”

Honoka sagged a little and Nozomi stifled a giggle.

“Well, you’re in luck, we have a few left,” the woman behind the counter said, gesturing to a mostly empty rack of suits. “Hopefully one’ll fit you. There’s a changing room in the back if you wanna try it on.”

“Thanks!” Honoka said. She dashed over to inspect the rack, and Nozomi followed, slightly more slowly, glancing around the shop.

It was an odd sort of place. Nozomi hadn’t been in that many costume shops, admittedly, but she was having trouble figuring out who they were trying to sell to. There seemed to be very few obvious, staple costumes like a yuki-onna or a ghost, and much more in the way of elaborate looking dresses and detailed jumpsuits. Maybe this was a speciality place for theatre troops or amateur film makers.

She smiled slightly as she passed a garish pink dress with bows on nearly every inch that could support them. It reminded her of something she might have worn as an idol. Perhaps it _was_ , even. It wasn’t as if people hadn’t made replicas of μ’s outfits. She was pretty sure she recognized one of the suits from an old TV show her father had shown her once. Maybe this was just a place for out of date outfits to gather dust.

By the time she caught up with Honoka, Honoka was already holding an outfit, looking a little guilty.

“Um, I don’t think any of these will fit you,” she said, holding up a Santa suit that Nozomi was fairly she would rip in half at the torso if she tried to put it on. “But there’s one that fits me…”

“We have some elf costumes,” came the voice of the sales woman from the front.

“Elf costumes?” Nozomi asked.

“Yeah, you know. Santa’s elves. Make toys in the workshop for all the kids.”

“Oh, right.” Nozomi hadn’t… really had much room for Santa in her life as  a child. Her parents didn’t really have the time or inclination to keep up a deception like that. But she’d learned all about Santa from Maki, who was a veritable encyclopedia of knowledge on the subject. How she’d managed to learn so much without ever learning it was just a story was a mystery to Nozomi. Perhaps she’d only ever been told about Santa, and had never looked anything up herself. Perhaps her father had said that Santa didn’t like it when you Googled him.

“We have one that’s pretty, uh,” Nozomi couldn’t quite see the woman, but she could imagine the look on her face from the slight pause before she continued. “...big around the chest.”

Not the most _delicate_ way Nozomi had ever heard someone describe it, but she supposed it was at least an attempt to be tactful, and she appreciated the thought.

“Well, Honoka, should we try our outfits on?” she said.

The dressing room was only big enough for one, so Nozomi sat outside it as Honoka put on the Santa costume. She took the time to examine her own costume that she’d been handed by the ever helpful employee. It was… very green, with little red triangle frills around the cuffs, and something that looked depressingly like what a jester might wear around the shoulders, vibrant red with little white fuzzballs on the end of each triangular hanging. But apparently, the costume maker hadn’t seen fit to stop at the dress, and included in the package were striped stockings, a red hat with _green_ triangles for a bold contrast to the suit, and pointy boots. They’d even thrown in gloves.

Nozomi sighed. It hardly something for a woman of her age to be wearing, was it? Still, it was certainly Christmas-y, and wasn’t particularly revealing. Costume designers, of course excepting dear Kotori, seemed to be a particularly lustful group, and finding something that fit her chest and didn’t see fit to reveal most of it was… a rarity, to say the least. It would have been just a little awkward to sneak into Nico’s house to deliver presents to her _children_ wearing an outfit that made her look like she was trying to seduce someone.

“How do I look?” Honoka spread her arms wide as she stepped out of the changing room. The suit was… honestly a little too big. The pants would need to be rolled up, and they’d have to stuff some padding under the shirt- although maybe that would just make it more authentic. And the fake beard looked utterly laughable considering that they hadn’t included a wig, leaving Honoka’s natural hair to dangle down out of the hat right next to the obviously different coloured beard. Still, it was close enough.

“Like Santa,” Nozomi said, smiling.

“Perfect!” Honoka said, grinning back at her. Her enthusiasm was infectious. Suddenly Nozomi was a little excited about trying her own costume.

“Alright, my turn,” Nozomi said, slipping by her into the room and drawing the curtain. She could see why Honoka had taken so long- with all the layers they’d bundled up in to beat the cold, getting undressed to put a costume on was a pretty involved affair. Eventually, though, she managed it and looked at herself in the mirror.

It was… certainly something. Pulling the curtain aside, she stepped out to face Honoka’s judgement.

“Oh my gosh, it’s so cute!” Honoka said, her eyes sparkling. Nozomi raised a skeptical eyebrow, but Honoka did sincerely seem taken with the outfit. Her tastes were so odd, sometimes… “Okay, you can change back first.”

So Nozomi went through the equally lengthy process of putting her winter clothes back on, and then waited while Honoka did the same, and then _finally_ they approached the counter with their costumes.

“Going with the elf costume after all, huh?” the shopkeep said as she rang them up. “Always liked elves. Santa gets all the credit, but they’re the ones making the toys, right? Seems like they’re the real workers in the organisation.” She smiled a little. “I wanted to be an elf as a kid. Used to write them thank you notes instead of Santa, and my parents would hide little notes of gratitude in the gifts after that, as if the elves were sneaking it to me without Santa noticing.”

“Aww!” Honoka said, clasping her hands. “That’s so cute!”

“Right?” the woman said. “Dad was great like that.”

They finished ringing up their purchases, at a far more reasonable price than Nozomi had imagined, and left with the costumes bundled up in a bag.

“Blehh, it’s so coldddd…” Honoka grumbled, as the winter air hit them in the face as soon as they left the comparative warmth of the shop. “How the heck did anyone believe that some kindly old man willingly lived at the North Pole? It must be _awful_ there.”

“I’m sure he heats the workshop with magic or something,” Nozomi said, reaching out and wrapping her scarf around Honoka’s neck and pulling her close. “Come on, let’s head home.”

“Yeah,” Honoka said, leaning into her as they walked. Rather quickly, at that. Nozomi would have liked to spend a little more time like this, with their fingers intertwined, huddled together, but it was quite cold, and Honoka liked the cold less and less each year. She could hardly blame her for wanting to rush home to the warmth of a cup of tea and a well heated house. Or a warm bath, for that matter.

Still, maybe she could be a little selfish just this once.

“Can you slow down a little?” she said, squeezing Honoka’s hand. Honoka glanced over at her, a little confused, but something on Nozomi’s face must have made things clear to her.

“Okay,” she said, slowing to a more reasonable pace and letting Nozomi draw close to her again. “Not too slow though, please.”

“Of course,” Nozomi said. Honoka’s youthful nature was cute, but underneath it Honoka really was a sensitive and mature woman as well. And one that was willing to indulge her silly wife who liked cold walks curled up against a loved one.

 


	4. The Fateful Night

Nico was nervous.

It was Christmas Eve. She’d explained the excuse to Maki, who’d believed her entirely, she’d spoken to Nozomi and Honoka, who knew the plan, and she’d kept Umi off her back, who seemed to want her to not move a muscle for the entire day. Everything _should_ be going fine. Okay, maybe she should feel bad about deceiving her wife, but _really,_ it wasn’t as if Maki would thank her for telling her the truth. She could live with a few half truths. Every part of her scheme was in place and working.

But she couldn’t calm down.

What if Honoka or Nozomi accidentally set off the alarm? Or got caught by the kids? Or Maki heard them and woke up and snuck downstairs to get a peek at Santa? There were so many things that could go wrong, and she couldn’t do a thing about any of them. All she could do was sit back and hoped everything worked out. She couldn’t do anything to affect the outcome, and she _hated_ it. She couldn’t stand feeling powerless. It was the feeling that she hated more than anything else. If she failed, she wanted to fail with the knowledge that at least she did all she could, that she worked as hard as possible and her goal just wasn’t attainable.

Maki noticed her agitation. “Is something wrong, Nico?” she asked, placing a hand over Nico’s forehead and frowning. “Are you in pain? Any new aches? Feeling nauseous?”

“Nothing new, and no more than usual,” Nico said, trying to brush off her concern. “Just… worried a little bit about tomorrow. You’re big about Christmas as a family, right? I can’t really join you guys too well…”

Maki sighed and pulled her hand away, then leaned in to kiss Nico’s forehead. “We’ll come in here and visit you, Nico. Just focus on getting well, okay? Honestly, only _you_ would be so ridiculous about this…”

“Ridiculous?” Nico said, affronted. “What you mean ridiculo-”

“I mean,” Maki said, cutting her off. “That you don’t need to blame yourself for what you can’t control. It’s not your fault you’re sick, right? It’s not like you’re away from the house on business, or because you don’t care enough to come home.”

Maki frowned a little, then shook off the memory. “You’re trying your best, Nico. And you’re here for us.”

“Hah!” Nico said, crossing her arms.  “Please. You think I’ve forgotten all your complaining about how you were ‘letting everyone down’ when you got too sick to go into work for a week?”

Maki blushed. “T-That was different!” she said. “A lot of the senior staff was away. They _needed_ me there, it was almost all interns!”

“Oh, but you don’t _need_ me there for Christmas? Wow, maybe I shouldn’t bother next year!”

“That’s not what I meant!”

“Well it’s what you _said_ , Maki!”

“No, it’s what you read into what I said because you overanalyze everything I say!”

“Sorry for following the logic of what you say instead of just accepting your hypocritical lectures!”

“Ugh!” Maki glared at Nico. “Stop arguing, already, you’re going to make yourself go into a coughing fit again.”

“Maybe if you could-” Damnit, Nico hated when Maki was right. Sure enough, raising her voice for more than a couple sentences was too much for her and she started coughing. Maki, at least, refrained from gloating. Once the coughing subsided, Nico slumped back into the bed, scowling.

“This doesn’t mean you won the argument,” she growled, and Maki sighed in exasperation.

“Oh shut up and go to sleep, will you?” Maki said, throwing a pillow at Nico. “We’ll talk in the morning. Or later.”

“Hmph,” Nico said, but she didn’t shake Maki off when she pulled Nico into a hug and cuddled up against her. Not because she forgave her or anything. Just because she loved her enough that she still kind of wanted to snuggle even if Maki was being an unreasonable hypocrite. Really, she should be thankful that Nico was such a loving and tolerating wife.

And, well. Maybe Nico was a _little_ lucky that she had a wife would could distract her from worrying so well, and who was beautiful and soft and warm and perfect to hold close on a cold night. And maybe it was thanks to her that instead of sitting up worrying about what could go wrong, Nico found herself dozing off. Or maybe it was the medication. Well, whatever. Maki had gotten her the medicine, so it counted, probably.

* * *

“Do you think it’s late enough?” Honoka whispered to Nozomi.

“I’m sure Maki did all she could to make sure everyone is already asleep, Honoka,” Nozomi whispered back. “She wouldn’t let the kids stay up this late when Santa is coming.”

“Right!” Honoka said. It was hard to keep her voice down, but somehow she managed to keep the volume low even if she wouldn’t really call it “whispering”. “Let’s go, then!”

Luckily, they didn’t have to go to the trouble of sneaking down a chimney to deliver presents to the Nishikino household. Unlike the real Santa, Honoka had the advantage of working with the homeowner, so she had a key from Nico to go in the front door.

Still, Honoka had to make sure to be quiet. She wasn’t sure if anyone in the household was a light sleeper, and if a sleepy little child came down the stairs because they heard the door open, it would be a lot harder than if they got in and got out unnoticed.

So she pushed the door open slooooowly, and glanced around a little inside before stepping over the threshold.

No incredulous Maki asking what the hell she was doing. No little voice asking “Santa…?” in confusion and disbelief. No triumphant shout of “I knew Santa was fake!” from a child that had figured things out before their mother. In fact, there was no reaction from the house at all. Perfect.

Nodding to Nozomi, she crept towards the living room, the sack on her shoulder shifting as she moved. Nozomi had tried to talk her out of putting the gifts into the bag, but Honoka refused to budge on it. Santa just wasn’t Santa if he (or she, in this case) was _carrying_ the gifts like some of kind of mailman. They had to be in the sack. The one exception was Maki’s gift, which Nozomi was currently carrying. Nico _had_ said it was fragile, so letting it jostle around in the sack seemed like a bad idea.

Creeping through the hallway, a board squeaked under Honoka’s foot. Horrified, she froze on the spot. Had that part of the floor always been creaky? Had she ever stepped there before when she’d visited? Was this a trap to catch Santas? Or worse, burglars? Was Maki bolting awake in bed even as Honoka stood there, ready to leap out of the door and confront the invader?

Ten seconds passed. Then thirty. After a full minute, Honoka relaxed and let out the breath she’d been holding. They’d gotten away with it. No one had caught them, despite her blunder.

Nodding to Nozomi again, who seemed less worried than her for some reason, she started moving again, peeking around each corner as she came to them. Finally, after what seemed like a year, they reached the living room… where an odd light shined out from the door.

Someone was awake. They had to be. Or… maybe the television was on? The light kept changing. Maybe someone had muted the TV and fallen asleep in front of it. She couldn’t take that risk, could she? But she was so close. She couldn’t retreat _now_ , could she? Besides, she only had one night, one way or another. Gathering her courage, she peeked around the door carefully.

To say that the sight that met her eyes was unexpected would be quite the understatement.

Honoka had been expecting nothing out of the ordinary- maybe a wreath, or some tinsel or something. But in their living room was some kind of big tree, almost looking like it had come from tanabata with all the decorations on it. It was covered in twinkling lights, that were flipping between colours merrily as Honoka watched.

“What’s _that_?” Honoka hissed to Nozomi.

“It’s a western thing,” Nozomi whispered back. “They call it a Christmas tree. We should put the presents under it.”

The presents had already been wrapped when they found them, and had “from Santa” written on the card. All Honoka had to do was fish them out of the sack and set them down. It was the work of a moment, and then she was done. With how worked up she’d gotten, it almost felt anticlimactic. Honoka felt irrationally annoyed at how well the whole thing had gone. She almost wanted to go shake Nico awake and demand she make it more challenging. What was the point of dressing up if no one was even going to see them? Why had she spent so much time rehearsing her lines for how to convince the kids she was Santa if she wasn’t even going to get caught?

Letting out a frustrated sigh, she turned to leave and then heard it.

Quiet footfalls on the stairs.

“Run!” she hissed to Nozomi.

Nozomi didn’t need to be told twice. Careful not to make _too_ much noise, the two of them rushed towards the door. As they passed through it, Honoka caught a glimpse of someone juuust coming into sight on the stairs, and then she pulled the door closed and ran flat out away from the house.

* * *

When Nico woke up, for a second, she thought she might still be asleep. Recently, being awake had come to mean aching and coughing, so when she woke up and she couldn’t feel dull pain echoing through her body, she assumed her nerves just weren’t conscious yet. But when she experimentally sat up, her nerves grumbled but didn’t cry out.

Somehow, she’d woken up before Maki. Frankly, that was the most miraculous part.

“Maki.” Nico shook her wife’s shoulder, and received some grumbling in return. “Maki, it’s Christmas.”

Maki’s eyes popped up and she turned to look at Nico. “Merry Christmas… Why are you up, Nico? Go back to sleep…”

“I’m finally feeling better,” Nico said triumphantly.

Maki looked skeptically at her, rubbing sleep from her eyes. “Nico, you don’t have to pretend to be-”

“I’m not pretending,” Nico said, frowning. “Have some faith in your wife, jeez.”

Maki sat up, her eyes widening. “Are you serious?”

“Yep,” Nico said, crossing her arms and smirking. “Not even a flu can keep the great Nico Nii down forever!”

Maki rolled her eyes. “Alright, calm down,” she said, rolling out of bed and staggering over the bathroom. “You’re probably not _all_ better,” she called, digging around in their well stocked medication cabinet. “Let me just listen to your breathing.”

She came back with a stethoscope, yawning and Nico looked at her in disbelief. “You took home a _stethoscope?_ ” she asked incredulously.

“No!” Maki said, holding it to her defensively. “I’m not a _thief,_ this is my own personal stethoscope.”

“Why do you own a stethoscope?”

“To check people’s lungs, _obviously_ ,” Maki said disdainfully. “Hurry up and take off your shirt.”

“You know, Maki, this isn’t my idea of sexy foreplay,” Nico complained as she peeled off her top.

“Oh, hush,” Maki said, placing the bell on Nico’s back.

Nico yelped in surprise. “Gah! What the hell, Maki, did you store this thing in a freezer? Couldn’t you warm it up or something?”

“Aww, poor baby,” Maki said sarcastically. “Well, you certainly sound more energetic…”

“I told you, I’m feeling way better,” Nico said. “I swear, no one else’s wife needs a medical second opinion to believe them.”

“It’s not that I don’t believe you,” Maki said stubbornly. “I just don’t want you to make yourself more ill. Other side.”

“Ooh, want a peek at my chest, do you?” Nico said. “Well, since it’s you… look all you want, baby.” Nico turned around and pressed her breasts together, wiggling a little.

Maki flushed a little. “Stop that,” she said. “Just let me check your breathing, wll you?”

“Fiiiiiiine,” Nico said,dropping her arms to her sides. “Deny me my Christmas present, why don’t you.”

Maki sighed. “Oh, alright,” she said, leaning down and gently kissing Nico’s breasts. “There. Now let me check your breathing.”

“Tease,” Nico complained, but Maki just smirked.

“Later, horndog,” she said, pressing the freezing cold bell to Nico's chest. “The kids will be up soon, if they're not already.”

“Fiiine,” Nico said. “You know, me being topless would have gotten more of a reaction from you ten years ago. Our relationship is _dying_ , Maki, and you're killing it.”

Suddenly, Maki dropped her stethoscope and gripped Nico's shoulders, staring intensely into her eyes as Nico jumped a little in surprise.

“Don't say that,” she said fiercely. “I love you. I'm not going to stop loving you. Ever. Understand?”

“Okay, okay,” Nico said, putting her hands up in surrender.

Maki picked up her stethoscope again and pressed it back to Nico’s chest. Then she smirked.

“What?” Nico said defensively. She didn't really need to say it. She could feel it herself, and it wasn't as if Maki could have missed it.

“Your heart rate got faster all of a sudden, Nico,” Maki said smugly. “Maybe you're still sick.”

“...you just gave me a fright,” Nico muttered. “Grabbing my shoulders all of a sudden.”

“Oh? Fright, is it? Didn't know you were such a scaredycat, Nico.”

Nico glared at her. “I was just surprised is all.”

“Surprised.”

“And maybe a _little_ happy,” Nico grumbled. “I'd be happier if you didn't have to rub it in.”

“You love me anyway,” Maki said cheerfully.

“Yeah, I do,” Nico said.

After a few more seconds of listening at various points, Maki pulled away.

“Alright, you seem… passable,” she said, straightening up and tucking the stethoscope into her pyjama shirt's pocket. Nico suppressed a laugh. The reflex was so ingrained that she did it even when she was just about to put it away anyway. It was a little cute. “Nothing strenuous, and if you start coughing too much again it's straight back to bed, but…”

“But…?”

“But you should be okay to come join us for Christmas morning,” Maki said. She was trying to look stern, but she couldn't keep the childlike excitement off her face. It was obvious that Nico wasn't the one who would have been most heartbroken by her being bedridden. “So hurry up and put your shirt back on before Jiro bursts in here or something.”

* * *

Nico hadn't been sure about asking for help. Nozomi would definitely convince Honoka to extort a payback favour, and the stress of trying to organise everything from her bed had done nothing to make already unpleasant days of illness any better. But when she saw the look on Maki's face when she saw the gifts under the tree and heard the excitement of the kids at seeing that “Santa” had come, she felt like it was all worth it, no matter what dark machinations of Nozomi she'd opened herself up to.

Later that day, when presents were unwrapped, chicken and cake were eaten, and her and Maki were back in bed with cups of tea on the bedside table, Maki spoke up.

“How did you manage that, anyway?” she asked.

“Manage what?” Nico said, confused, propping herself up with an arm to look at Maki. “Your gift? I just found it in that place off of-”

“No, no, not my gift. The gifts for the kids and everything.”

Nico's blood ran cold. “I… don't know what you're talking about,” she said carefully. “Those were from Santa.”

Maki rolled her eyes. “Come on, Nico,” she said. “I know you're the one who bought those gifts. There's no such thing as Santa.”

Nico gaped at her.

“You _knew_?” she hissed.

“Of course I knew,” Maki said, sniffing dismissively and flipping her hair in that superior way she did. “I’m nearly thirty, Nico. It’s been a long time since I believed in Santa.”

“And you just _let me think you still did?_ ” Nico snapped, glaring daggers at Maki. “What, have you been laughing at me behind my back this whole time?!”

“No!” Maki said quickly. “I just… always thought it was cute. How you tried so hard to keep the magic of Christmas alive for me. Even though you thought it was dumb, you played along, and went out of your way to try to make me happy.” She fidgeted with the blanket a little. “It made me happy that you cared that much. I didn’t want to break it to you that I’d found out at Christmas, and then there was never a good time to tell you…”

“Yes there was! When we were planning for Christmas with the kids for the first year, you could have said something, you jerk! I can’t believe you!”

“Oh whatever, Nico!” Maki snapped back. “I can’t believe you were perfectly willing to believe I was _that_ stupid that I hadn’t found out Santa wasn’t real in more than two decades!”

“I guess I just assumed that you _didn’t have any possible reason to lie about it, Maki!_ Should I be more suspicious of you? Is that what you’re telling me?”

“Alright, alright!” Maki said. “I’m sorry.”

“...What?” Nico said, blinking in surprise. She wouldn’t say their arguments were _routine_ , exactly. Every time, she really _was_ mad, and she suspected Maki was too. But there was a certain… familiarity to their bickering. A commonality. Enough that she could recognise when one was starting. Maki suddenly backing down like that, though… wasn’t the usual.

“I know I should have told you,” Maki said. “But I just… it made me happy, Nico. That part wasn’t a lie. I really was happy every time I woke up on Christmas morning and saw that ‘Santa’ had come, because I knew it meant you’d gone to the trouble of setting everything up and hiding it from me just to make me smile. It made Christmas special for me, Nico. Just maybe not in the way you thought.”

Nico sighed in exasperation and flopped back on the pillow.

How the hell was she supposed to stay mad at Maki after _that_? Sure, she was still a little annoyed that she’d been tricked all this time, but… she’d been trying to make Maki happy, and she’d succeeded. Wasn’t that a good thing?

...No, actually, it was still pretty annoying.

“I really can’t believe you,” Nico growled. “I feel betrayed.”

“Don’t be so melodramatic, Nico,” Maki said, rolling her eyes.

“Maybe I should pretend to believe in the easter bunny for the next ten years or something,” Nico grumbled.

Maki rolled her eyes. “Just shut up and come over here, already,” she said, starting to unbutton her top. “You were talking about ‘your Christmas present’ this morning, right? If you take your shirt off again I’ll give it to your properly.”

Nico started to wiggle over, and then paused. “For the record, I resent you using sex to distract me,” she said primly.

“If you don’t stop talking, you’re not going to have anything to resent.”

As the last minutes of Christmas ticked away, Nico found herself with plenty to resent, and yet, resentment was the last thing on her mind.

It must have been a Christmas miracle.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks so much to noelclover on tumblr for the image and for letting me use it in this fic.


End file.
